Chapter VII
Recovery

I was able to eat small amounts. It took a couple of days for me to get to where I could eat anything beyond a couple of bites, but soon my strength was returning. Once I was strong enough, Jasper and I walked around the island's beaches. Jasper would carry me past any rocky or dangerous areas. He told me about the birds and sea life he'd seen, which had saved him from weakening. He was quick to dismiss any discomfort of his own, but by paying attention to what he said, I learned that nursing me had been a difficult thing for him.

The weather was beautiful for the first two nights after I awoke, and I slept outside the cave, Jasper always keeping me company. On the third day a nasty storm came and blew everything around. We sat in the cave away from the rain.

I still had to sleep often, and Jasper continued to lie behind me each night, comforting me as I slept. Although I rested more often than usual, I grew noticeably stronger every day.

The night we escaped the storm into the cave again, I had another nightmare. It was nearly the same as the one before my fever, only this time the hole didn't open and take me away into darkness. This time I had to watch as Edward grew smaller and smaller, and I wasn't able to take him back from the Volturi. When I stepped forward to follow him, Felix appeared in front of me and grabbed my arm to bite it...I awoke screaming.

It was dark in the cave, but not as dark as usual, I saw the light from the full moon streaming into the cave. As I tried to breathe normally, I sat up. The old hole in my chest seemed to have been irritated back into existence by my seperation from Edward, and I wrapped my arms around myself as I tried desperately to control my breathing.

I noticed a change in the light at the entrance to the cave and I felt Jasper ease himself behind me and pull me back against him. I could feel the wetness on my cheeks in the cold, and turned a little, burying my face in his shirt to hide them. I really didn't want to cry. He drew me in closer when my body began shaking and I wrapped my arms around his waist, and held tightly...I felt his fingers on my cheeks, brushing the tears away as he had done before, "I don't mean to be so annoying Jasper, I'm sorry."

I felt his body shake as he chuckled. "No Bella, I'm just happy you're on the mend. And I'm sorry for leaving, I wanted to get out of the cave and find out if I could see any break in the storm. I know you have your nightmares, I shouldn't have gone."

I spoke through slowly easing sobs, "Any hope?" He smiled, "I think so. The clouds on the horizon have a different look to them. I was thinking..." he paused, I lifted my head to look at his face, wondering why he stopped.

He looked down at me, brushing my hair back and wiping the tears off my face, tucking loose strands behind my ear...reminding me of Ed...no, I decided, best not to go to that thought now that I'd just regained control of my tears.

I distracted myself by questioning Jasper. "What?" I asked.

He smiled, "I was thinking that since you're so much stronger, we might try to swim tomorrow."

I sat up, excitedly, "Really?" Jasper smiled and nodded, his eyes looked happier than I'd seen them all week, despite their blackness. "Thank you Jasper!" I said brightly, and leaned forward and quickly kissed him on the cheek. He chuckled and slid down, pulling me back again before saying, "Now I think it's late, and you should sleep."

We lay there as we had every night on the island, my head on his arm, my back against him. His arm casually thrown over my waist. I smiled and closed my eyes. I slept again, and had no more nightmares.

I woke up the next morning and was overwhelmed by excitement. I could tell Jasper felt te same way. He made sure I had something to eat before we left, and hunted something for himself. Then we walked into the water, it was very warm and very comfortable. I climbed onto Jasper's back and he began to swim. He wasn't anywere near as fast as when he ran, but I was very surprised by how fast he was. After what couldn't have been any longer than half an hour, I couldn't see our little island any more.

Nearly the whole day had passed when we finally saw a reflected light in the distance. Jasper said it was a good sign, and meant we'd come across shipping lanes. We floated on towards the area where the glint had been. I held on tight, my arms around Jasper's neck, my legs around his waist. I dozed, and time passed.

Jasper woke me up when he saw a ship approaching. We saw them, but they couldn't see us in the darkness. I was growing tired and cold again, and I could tell Jasper was worried I might slip back into illness before he'd be able to get me to safety.

When we couldn't see the ship any longer, I dozed again. On the second day a large Coast Guard cutter named "Dallas" found us. When they pulled us on board, we explained we'd been on a private jet, which had crashed. We told them we weren't certain where they'd gone down, or even whether they had survived because we'd been separated.

It was early evening when they found us. They were headed for South Carolina. I asked if we could notify our family that we were safe, because we hadn't really told them we were leaving. They took us to the bridge of the ship, and handed me a phone. The crewman who had led us up on deck dialed for us. I stood there, holding the receiver to Jasper asking if he wanted to speak to the family first, but he smiled and shook his head no.

I put the phone to my ear, it was ringing. There was a click as it was answered, and then Carlisle's voice came on. Even in his greeting, his stress was evident. "Hello." he said civilly, but nowhere near as kindly as I was used to hearing. He sounded as if he'd been working very hard, for far too long.

"Carlisle, it's so good to hear your voice." I said, relieved.

There was a gasp, and Carlisle exclaimed, "BELLA!"